Bullied to Death

Zero tolerance is a bunch of crap. All it does is let the bullies keep beating while the innocent are unable to defend themselves without repercussions.
In our school district a kid was choked until he was unconscious because thanks to the zero tolerance policy he was not able to try to beat the bully off of his back. The idiot teachers make 6 figures in our district but were too busy talking to notice someone was being choked to death and he was out cold before another kid was able to interrupt their personal conversation long enough to get something done.
So in the end the bully got a kiss on the wrist (a detention which he failed to show up for and nothing was done) and the victim got a trip to the hospital, paid for by the taxpayers of our district.
Way to go, zero tolerance! A big win for us all!

Reply

i was bullied in jr high and a bit in hs. kids would tease me and make fun of my clothes, my hair and face b/c puberty wasn't so kind to it. but after a while, i got sick of it. if someone said something, i said something back. as loud and dramatically as possible. it TRULY got the attention of the teachers and other students. it really stopped a good chunk of the abuse. i mean, who wants to mess with loud, drama queen? esp when she can get you into trouble for making her cry? alot of ppl thought some of my outbursts were interesting enough to try to get to know me. once they figured out that i was just another kid who was just trying to live my life, they not only stopped abusing me, they stood up for me. there were some who just couldn't stop themselves, got ignored, b/c i realized that it's not worth it to make a big deal out of things for ppl who apparently don't have lives. why else would ppl bully others?

you know your kids, why not teach them how to respond to bullies in the only way they can? if the bullying does esculate, make it a point to point out to the school administration, their teachers and the school board that you will NOT stand idly by as your kid is tormented. YOU are supposed to be your kids protector. get out there and protect them! zero tolerance my ass! show the adults and have your kids show the bullies that YOU have ZERO TOLERACE for their nonsense.

Reply

While I agree that children do need to stick up for themselves, it is not always possible when in this type of situation. My son was being bullied in school and he stood up to the bullies and was attacked the next day by the original 3 bullies and 10 of their friends. I don't care what martial arts program you are in, 13 vs 1 does not work!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I believe these parents have every right to sue the school and school district. Teachers, administrators and other students know what is going on at their school, and I understand that some are afraid of retaliation from the same bullies (no teachers are not immune) but they are the adults and it is their job to not only teach the students but to keep them safe.
My prayers go out to this family as they fight for the rights of their son that he didn't receive while he was alive.

Reply

Bullying goes too far in today's world. I am in a school where if you are fighting, you get expelled, simple as that. I am glad for this because if had gone to the school I was originally going to attend, I am afraid I would be bullied to no end. I went to a private school for elementary and middle school. I was so scared to go to a public high school because of what one of my friends, who grew up going to public schools, told me. She got into fights often, but the fact is she was never the one to throw the first punch. And, although she did fight back, the fights continued. We were going to go to the same high school and she told me one thing that I think I will never forget, "I'm not going to help you if you get jumped in the restroom."
And on the second day of school for her some girl was talking about her and started a fight by pulling her hair. My friend doesn't take any crap from anyone, so she fought back and ended up being suspended.

Reply

At the risk of being called "insensitive", and a few other names, I'm sure....


Did anyone else notice Eric's size? 6' tall, and 112 lbs. Was that a typo? Because if it's not, it's anorexic. I'm 5'5", and at my height, 112 lbs would be considered underweight - possibly borderline dangerous. (that doesn't stop me from striving for it, of course...)

I'm not sure how that matters here, but it's got me wondering. Were there other issues with this young man that may have contributed to his suicide? Not that the bullying was completely wrong, but is it possible that it's only the 'straw that broke the camel's back', and not the real cause of the suicide?

Reply

I'm just so fed up with this crap. I'm fed up with the fact that people don't imediatley spur into action when bullying comes up. People, teachers, and others let this slide way to easily. Not only is bullying really demeaning and selfish it can cause pyschological harm to the victim.

A modest example, my boyfriend was bullied and tortured at his school since he was in grade school. It got worse though in high school. Kids from all over the school picked on him because he was the ''weakest link'' or the one who just kept to himself and was the loner of the place. He almost killed himself because of the verbal abuse and every so often the physical. Top it off with his parents getting a BIG divorce at that time and they paid no heed to him you got yourself a serious problem. One of the worst things that happened was that he got this phony love letter in his locker and he really thought a girl liked him because he wasn't the best pick of the litter to others. He met up with her and she slapped him and said who could ever love a ugly (censored) like you. Right in front of all her friends. Then their guy friends topped it off with a slight beating.

The school didn't do anything to help him or protect him from this harm. On more than one occasion for years he told counselors, teachers, even the principal about it but they threw him out the window like trash. He was so messed up from all the years of torture that he was afraid of me when I first talked to him because he feared I'd try to be his friend then backstab him because it has happened too many times to him. It took him a long time to trust me and to know that I wouldn't hurt him like that. Now, since I've been helping him in every way I can he's more outgoing and social and he likes being around other people. There is still hope for people who have been bullied to this extent but if it was caught sooner there would be less problems and perhaps it could save a life. I'm thankful each day that he never did kill himself. I wouldn't have ever met the wonderful person he is if that had happened.

I apologize if this came out as a rant. I am just really anti-bullying and I'll make sure one day when I have children that my kids will never do that kind of harm to any human being. Nor will I let them succumb to it or let it get pushed this far.

Reply

My daughter is 11 and in 6th grade. She has two girls who bully her one is a girl who is wanting to grow up way to fast, called her mom and her mom said she doesn't listen to her daughters 6th grade drama because she is a little girl. The other is a daughter of a single father. He said he can not discipline her because she is a girl so he leaves it to the school to handle. The teachers response I'll talk to them, the principal says the same. Schools out in less than 2 months CAN'T WAIT!!!! Then after that is junior high :(

Reply

I have just finished high school and all through middle school and high school i was bullied. when i was in 12th grade i was called fat a.., my stuff was stolen and hiden around the classroom. When i told my parents they told me to ignore them. When i told the teachers, they told me that since they didn't see or hear them they couldn't do anything. The bullies even stole one of my books and now it is gone forever. Maybe if the teachers suspended them or kicked them out maybe i would still have my book

Reply